S.H.I.E.L.D
HISTORY The 'S'trategic 'H'omeland 'I'ntervention, 'E'nforcement, and 'L'ogistics 'D'ivision was a combined military, scientific research, and espionage agency with a mandate to protect the populace of the world from threats beyond the scope of standard national security agencies. It was reformed from the remnants of the Strategic Scientific Reservein the aftermath of World War II1, and is made up of personnel from three disciplines: Operations (Ops) is the military, tactical and armed security division; the Science and Technology division (Sci-Tech) provides scientific research and medical support; Communications (Comms) is focused on data analysis and network security. Founding In the waning days of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, the world powers behind the World War II-era group opted to expand the agency's scope in the post-war environment and to this end tasked Howard Stark, a prominent member of the S.S.R., with forming S.H.I.E.L.D. He quickly pulled Peggy Carter in with him to command the fledgling group's field agents. In the following years, S.H.I.E.L.D. enlisted scientists that had once worked for the enemy under a project named Operation Paperclip, and among these people was the Hydra scientist Arnim Zola. Rather than swelling their ranks with new found allies however, S.H.I.E.L.D. had unwittingly opened the door to elements of Hydra, people who subsequently proceeded to infiltrate all corners of S.H.I.E.L.D. For decades S.H.I.E.L.D. maintained a clandestine watch over the world, until the twenty-first century when they were suddenly confronted with a new age of superhuman threats and were forced to expand again. Avengers Initiative After Tony Stark escaped from captivity in Afghanistan using special armor he had built, Agent Phil Coulson repeatedly attempted to talk to him but failed. Later on, Pepper Potts informed Agent Coulson of Obadiah Stane's armor. Coulson and several other agents attempted to arrest Stane, but were defeated. Coulson later provided a cover story for Stark, one which Stark refused to use. S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury informed Stark of the Avengers Initiative. In the following year, S.H.I.E.L.D agents Phil Coulson and Natasha Romanoff, alongside Fury, watched over Stark. Stark panned the agency as running a "superhero boy band". He later learned that his father had been a founding member. General Thunderbolt Ross used the S.H.I.E.L.D. servers to help him track the e-mails from the fugitive Bruce Banner.6 The World Security Council ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to send an agent to ask General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross to release Emil Blonsky into their custody. They saw him as a war hero and a perfect addition to Fury’s Avenger Initiative, and blamed the fight in New York City against the Hulk on Bruce Banner. At Sitwell's urging, Coulson reluctantly sent the consultant Tony Stark to annoy the general so that Blonsky would remain in prison. The next day, Sitwell informed Coulson that their plan had worked and that the Abomination would remain locked away. S.H.I.E.L.D. investigated the discovery of Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, on Earth. When Thor broke into the S.H.I.E.L.D. compound to recover his hammer, he was found unworthy and the hammer refused to obey him. Thor was then captured and interrogated. After releasing the Asgardian, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents then moved to investigate a series of arcane rings carved into the earth not far from the compound. They were interrupted from their investigation by the arrival of the Destroyer, a colossal sentinel sent by Loki to eliminate Thor. The Destroyer, having swept the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel aside effortlessly, was soon beaten by Thor. Thor then informed S.H.I.E.L.D. that they could count him as an ally. Dr. Selvig was taken to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility where he met Nick Fury. Fury asked Selvig to study the recently-discovered Tesseract, an object of limitless power. Selvig agreed while Loki watched. S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives in the Arctic discovered Captain America's frozen body in the Red Skull's airship from WWII. Rogers awoke in a room designed to appear as if it were still the early 1940s. Deducing that he was being tricked, he escaped to Times Square, where he was confronted by S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Nick Fury. Fury informed him that he had been asleep for nearly 70 years, and that their intention was merely to ease his entry into modern times.9 When Loki stole the Tesseract and escaped along with several enslaved S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, Director Fury reactivated the Avengers Initiative to counter the threat. Agent Romanoff was sent to bring in Dr. Banner, Agent Coulson was sent to retrieve Tony Stark, and Fury himself approached Steve Rogers, all in the hope that together these individuals might combine their respective talents to help with the problem of Loki and the missing Tesseract. S.H.I.E.L.D. assisted Rogers in his capture of Loki, and then provided a prison on the helicarrier once Loki had been apprehended. It transpired that Loki had intended to be captured however, a ruse to sow the seeds of discord throughout the ranks of the forces assembled against him. His mind-controlled agents later attacked the helicarrier to free him, heavily damaging it in the process. The attack became a bitter defeat for S.H.I.E.L.D, although Fury turned one of its defining losses into the motivational push that Stark and Rogers needed. In short order the remaining heroes set off in pursuit of Loki, and began referring to themselves as the Avengers. During the Chitauri invasion in Manhattan, the World Security Council ordered the deployment of nuclear missile to the city in the hope of stopping the invasion. Nick Fury was able to stop a jet carrying a nuke from taking off, but was unable to prevent another. With Fury's help, Iron Man was able to prevent the other missile from detonating over New York City. After the Avengers' victory and departure, S.H.I.E.L.D. continued its normal military activities. Fall of S.H.I.E.L.D After World War 2, former Hydra agents and scientists had been recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. For 70 years this did not change and in all secrecy Hydra had been infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. from the beginning. In 2014 Hydra gave the command to all their sleeper agent to take control over S.H.I.E.L.D, something they did with ease, given the sheer amount of sleeper agents in important positions. Loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents resisted for some time however, many joined willingly some hours after being captured. Hydra also used the Faustus method on strong willed S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents to sway their loyalty. The Avengers were captured when Hydra had set up a trap for them to rescue Sharon Carter.